Jeff Smith: An update, a crowd of fans and a ‘wonder’ful meeting

Scholastic made a big announcement during this year’s San Diego Comic-Con outlining publishing plans for Jeff Smith’s Bone for 2009 and beyond. I had an opportunity to speak with Jeff in Toronto just before a signing at Indigo Books where he gave details and background about about Rose, the upcoming Tall Tales collection and the three volume Quest for the Spark series.

After the interview I made the trek up to a mall north of downtown Toronto with Jeff and Scholastic Canada’s Marketing and Publicity Manager, Denise Anderson to find a winding line-up of enthusiastic fans waiting to have their books signed.

Over five-hundred parents, kids and adults with kid-hearts brought Scholastic editions of Bone, single issues of Bone, Bone One-Volume editions and other Bone memorabilia for Jeff to sign proving that Bone is a series that everyone can enjoy.

Jeff goes all rat creature on a young fan.

Denise and Jeff pose for the camera.

However, here was one of the coolest, most insane comic book experiences I’ve ever witnessed. The same day that Jeff signed at this store, Lynda Carter was signing copies of her brand new CD. Jeff Smith meets Wonder Woman – best team-up ever.

Scott Robins is a librarian at the Toronto Public Library and the co-author of A Parent's Guide to the Best Kids' Comics. He is the children's programming director for the annual Toronto Comic Arts Festival. He has also served on the graphic novel selection committee for the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids and Teens and is a jury member of the Joe Shuster Awards in the "Comics for Kids" category.

About Good Comics For Kids

We are a group of librarians, parents, and writers--and most of us wear at least two of those hats--who started writing about kids' comics in 2008 because, well, nobody else was. We like everything from Literary Graphic Novels to blatantly commercial (but fun!) licensed properties. And we don't lump all ages together; we're smart enough to know that a three-year-old has different abilities and interests than a 13-year-old.

Our goal is to cover kids' comics (for readers from birth to age 16) with both breadth and depth, through a mix of news, reviews, interviews, and previews, and to be both accessible to casual readers and interesting enough for serious fans.